Under the Ivy

It wouldn't take me long to tell you how to find it
To tell you where we'll meet
This little girl inside me
Is retreating to her favourite place

Go into the garden, go under the ivy
Under the leaves, away from the party
Go right to the rose, go right to the white rose
(For me)

I sit here in the thunder, the green on the grey
I feel it all around me
And it's not easy for me to give away a secret
It's not safe

But go into the garden, go under the ivy
Under the leaves, away from the party
Go right to the rose, go right to the white rose
(For me)

Go into the garden, go under the ivy
Go under the leaves for me
Go right to the rose, go right to the white rose
I'll be waiting for you

It wouldn't take me long to tell you how to find it

 -- Kate Bush, Under the Ivy (1985)

I read an interview where the interviewer asked you if "Running Up That Hill" is about the contemplation of suicide. And I thought that was pretty amusing, because it seemed to me clearly not to about any such thing at all. On the other hand, strangely enough, that's just what "Under The Ivy" [the B-side to Kate's "Running Up That Hill" single] seems to be about to me. The tone of the song is very, very sad. And it seems to be about longing for the lost innocence of youth -- perhaps a follow-up to "In Search Of Peter Pan" [from Kate's second album "Lionheart"]. A white rose is a strong image in the song. And it could be a symbol for friendship or innocence, but it could also be a symbol for death. You sing "Away from the party", and it seems like you might almost mean "away from the problems and triviality of modern day life". You sing "It wouldn't take me long to tell you how to find it", and it seems like you might almost be addressing Death itself. You mention a secret, but never mention what it is. Could it be the taboo subject of suicide?

What are your feelings about this interpretation, and what were you intentions with the song?

KATE: Well, I think...uh, it... perhaps you are reading much more into it than was originally intended when I wrote it. It's very much a song about someone who is sneaking away from a party to meet someone elusively, secretly, and to possibly make love with them, or just to communicate, but it's secret, and it's something they used to do and that they won't be able to do again. It's about a nostalgic, revisited moment.

DOUG: Is there any reason why it's so sad?

KATE: I think it's sad because it's about someone who is recalling a moment when perhaps they used to do it when they were innocent and when they were children, and it's something that they're having to sneak away to do privately now as adults.

 -- Interview with Doug Alan, 20 November 1985
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